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Way I look at it, the trade deadline was a win/win for most of us as fans. We kept our young pieces, if Kemba leaves, so be it, we're tanking and that's okay. If he stays, awesome, because we love Kemba. Win/win for us as a fan base honestly.

I think the thing that will suck is that we will never really be able to build a good team around him while he is here. That is my big fear.

Maybe in 2-3 years some of the younger guys will have made big strides and we can attract another elite player in free agency

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I think the thing that will suck is that we will never really be able to build a good team around him while he is here. That is my big fear.

Maybe in 2-3 years some of the younger guys will have made big strides and we can attract another elite player in free agency

Look at it this way. We are on track to make the playoffs this year. Next year all our young players should be better since they have all gotten chances to play and develop this year. So with any luck on the injury front we should be in the playoffs again next year.

The year after that Biz, MKG and Marvin contracts expire. That opens up $40 million in cap space. A team that has made the playoffs two years in a row and has some young up coming players along with multiple all star Kemba is not going to look like a bad destination for a top free agent. Also next year at the trade deadline $40 million in expiring contracts might look good to a team trying to dump salary and rebuild.

The year after that Batum comes off and we are free from Cho's blunders.

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Look at it this way. We are on track to make the playoffs this year. Next year all our young players should be better since they have all gotten chances to play and develop this year. So with any luck on the injury front we should be in the playoffs again next year.

The year after that Biz, MKG and Marvin contracts expire. That opens up $40 million in cap space. A team that has made the playoffs two years in a row and has some young up coming players along with multiple all star Kemba is not going to look like a bad destination for a top free agent. Also next year at the trade deadline $40 million in expiring contracts might look good to a team trying to dump salary and rebuild.

The year after that Batum comes off and we are free from Cho's blunders.

Potentially that could be the case. I fear we will just attract guys that are looking for a payday and not a winning situation. In the meantime, hopefully we just keep improving and make ourselves slightly more attractive.

Ideally we can land a big time talent through the draft but I think that odds of that are very, very slim in the short term.

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Potentially that could be the case. I fear we will just attract guys that are looking for a payday and not a winning situation. In the meantime, hopefully we just keep improving and make ourselves slightly more attractive.

Ideally we can land a big time talent through the draft but I think that odds of that are very, very slim in the short term.

We have to hope that Mitch and JB do a better job at talent evaluation than Cho and Cliff did. That can be in the draft and in free agency. We did a good job of tanking last time. We had a young star in Kemba and loads of cap space. It all went south when we overpaid for Batum, Marvin, MKG and Cody. All we can do is reset the meter and try again. Ultimately it still rests on Mitch's shoulders and somewhat on JB to use our cap space and draft picks wisely.

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We have to hope that Mitch and JB do a better job at talent evaluation than Cho and Cliff did. That can be in the draft and in free agency. We did a good job of tanking last time. We had a young star in Kemba and loads of cap space. It all went south when we overpaid for Batum, Marvin, MKG and Cody. All we can do is reset the meter and try again. Ultimately it still rests on Mitch's shoulders and somewhat on JB to use our cap space and draft picks wisely.

I was a heavy advocate of continuing to tank in an effort to get better, finally. Clearly that is not the plan for the franchise. I hope they can dig up some overlooked talent in the draft and perhaps lure some top tier free agents.

I am very pleasantly surprised by the addition of Tony Parker and it being a big boost to the franchise. Maybe a couple more shrewd signings like that to help these younger guys out will be in order.

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Kemba will and should leave. Lamb will leave. We should just keep the cap space and tank next season. Should have tanked this season. This was the draft to do it. Instead it is win now as it always is. This results in the 14th or 15th pick or at best the 10th pick and a pat on the back. We are the old Cleveland Browns of the NBA right now. Bad drafters and continually lost when it comes to decision making.

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Kemba will and should leave. Lamb will leave. We should just keep the cap space and tank next season. Should have tanked this season. This was the draft to do it. Instead it is win now as it always is. This results in the 14th or 15th pick or at best the 10th pick and a pat on the back. We are the old Cleveland Browns of the NBA right now. Bad drafters and continually lost when it comes to decision making.

Drafting higher has not helped much. Poor talent evaluation has been our downfall. Making bad draft picks and overpaying free agents is how you get to NBA purgatory. Tanking will not cure that, it only gives you another shot at it.

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2011 Two first round picks that year netted us Kemba and Biz. That was an OK start, one good player and one bust. We passed over Klay Thompson, Kahwi Leonard and Jimmy Butler.

2012 the league screwed us and we picked #2. We took MKG over Beal, Lillard and Drummond. Pairing Kemba with Beal would have been awesome consolation for missing out on Davis.

2013 We picked #4 and took Cody. That was a bad draft but we still passed over the Greek Freak and Rudy Gobert.

2014 We picked Noah Vonleh at #9 who was another bust.

2015 We picked #9 again and took Frank who is yet another bust.

We made the playoffs in 2016 and thought it was time to lock in some veteran free agents since our new core was in place. We overpaid for Batum and Marvin that summer. That team was supposed to be a playoff regular at minimum.

So all together our last tank got us six draft picks in the top ten but only one of them turned out to be more than a role player. We signed two free agents with the cap space we had built up and both of them were busts who signed big deals after career seasons only to revert to average.

We could go all in on another tank and rebuild but there is no guarantee it will turn out any better than the last one.

IMHO, the best course would be to retain Kemba and wait out the bad contracts. If we had a second star player to pair with Kemba we would be a solid playoff team every year. If we had a third we would be contenders in the east. Maybe in two years either Monk or Bridges will be a star and we will attract a third star in free agency.

2011 Two first round picks that year netted us Kemba and Biz. That was an OK start, one good player and one bust. We passed over Klay Thompson, Kahwi Leonard and Jimmy Butler.

2012 the league screwed us and we picked #2. We took MKG over Beal, Lillard and Drummond. Pairing Kemba with Beal would have been awesome consolation for missing out on Davis.

2013 We picked #4 and took Cody. That was a bad draft but we still passed over the Greek Freak and Rudy Gobert.

2014 We picked Noah Vonleh at #9 who was another bust.

2015 We picked #9 again and took Frank who is yet another bust.

We made the playoffs in 2016 and thought it was time to lock in some veteran free agents since our new core was in place. We overpaid for Batum and Marvin that summer. That team was supposed to be a playoff regular at minimum.

So all together our last tank got us five draft picks in the top ten but only one of them turned out to be more than a role player. We signed two free agents with the cap space we had built up and both of them were busts who signed big deals after career seasons only to revert to average.

We could go all in on another tank and rebuild but there is no guarantee it will turn out any better than the last one.

IMHO, the best course would be to retain Kemba and wait out the bad contracts. If we had a second star player to pair with Kemba we would be a solid playoff team every year. If we had a third we would be contenders in the east. Maybe in two years either Monk or Bridges will be a star and we will attract a third star in free agency.

By the time all the bad contracts are off the books, its time to resign Monk and close for Bridges. Kemba would be over 30 and is a pg that relies on quick stops and quickness.

Really the only chance to build a winner with Kemba in his prime hinges on getting rid of Batum and one other contract in the off season. Otherwise your stuck with a below .500 team that would have to scratch into the playoffs with no chance of winning a playoff series. Keeping Kemba and waiting on contracts mean your committed to that for 3 more seasons and keeping Kemba likely means promises to greatly improve the team around him.

Which is hard to do when your only trading blocks are Monk and Bridges.

so is it really smart to play out MKG, Batum and other players contracts when by the time you've accomplished said goal it will be time to rebuild because Kemba will likely be near the end of his Career.

Or trade Kemba and get the best possible package in return for him and restart the rebuild the correct way while waiting out those contracts. I say this because getting rid of Batum and getting anything back worth value will cost the Hornets Monk plus a first.

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By the time all the bad contracts are off the books, its time to resign Monk and close for Bridges. Kemba would be over 30 and is a pg that relies on quick stops and quickness.

Really the only chance to build a winner with Kemba in his prime hinges on getting rid of Batum and one other contract in the off season. Otherwise your stuck with a below .500 team that would have to scratch into the playoffs with no chance of winning a playoff series. Keeping Kemba and waiting on contracts mean your committed to that for 3 more seasons and keeping Kemba likely means promises to greatly improve the team around him.

Which is hard to do when your only trading blocks are Monk and Bridges.

so is it really smart to play out MKG, Batum and other players contracts when by the time you've accomplished said goal it will be time to rebuild because Kemba will likely be near the end of his Career.

Or trade Kemba and get the best possible package in return for him and restart the rebuild the correct way while waiting out those contracts. I say this because getting rid of Batum and getting anything back worth value will cost the Hornets Monk plus a first.

You do not have to get rid of Batum to make it work. MKG, Biz and Marvin all have player options for next season. I assume they will all opt in because none of them will get that much money on their next contract. Assuming that is the case then all three will be under contract next season and expire at season's end. We will head into the trade deadline with $40 million in expiring contracts. Those could be used to acquire a solid player or two from a team shedding salary. That would happen less than a year from today. If we wait out those three contracts then we have cap space to use the summer of 2020. We are one season away from dumping some bad contracts, not Batum but significant ones none the less.

We might even be able to move those guys for something good this summer if we attach an asset. I would gladly give up Monk for Beal.

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You do not have to get rid of Batum to make it work. MKG, Biz and Marvin all have player options for next season. I assume they will all opt in because none of them will get that much money on their next contract. Assuming that is the case then all three will be under contract next season and expire at season's end. We will head into the trade deadline with $40 million in expiring contracts. Those could be used to acquire a solid player or two from a team shedding salary. That would happen less than a year from today. If we wait out those three contracts then we have cap space to use the summer of 2020. We are one season away from dumping some bad contracts, not Batum but significant ones none the less.

We might even be able to move those guys for something good this summer if we attach an asset. I would gladly give up Monk for Beal.

id give up monk for beal in a heartbeat...the wiz are nowhere near close to making a deal like that